Off Topic...(well, SORT of!) (for a little while longer, anyway)

Did I Dream That???

It was an unGodly HOT weekend. This summer has been exceptionally cool ~ up until this weekend. I do NOT deal with heat and humidity well, in my old age!

I knew the heat wave was coming so Friday night, I baked some "This Isn't Your Mother's Chocolate Chip Cookie" cookies, ala Susan Mcmillin at the "Chickens In The Road" Blogspot. To say they are good is like saying that I LIKE Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Blizzards...

Saturday was wickedly hot so I went to work. *On my THREE-DAY-OFF WEEKEND!* They have air conditioning. Saturday night, I took some cookies to my VSF (Very Special Friend) who I call "Doc" ~ and that's ALL you need to know Mr. Stearman!!! I spent the night at Doc's but it was so hot that he slept in the bedroom and I slept on the floor in the living room. RIGHT in front of the air conditioner.

I came home early this morning and went back to bed. Slept until 11:00 o'clock!! I HAD to do more baking because I had purchased fresh blueberries for a tempting recipe I saw on "Welcome To Prosperine" Blogspot. I didn't want the blueberries to go to waist WASTE, so I bit the bullet and baked "Orange Blueberry Bread" today. (TWO loaves!) Oh - My - Gosh is it good!!! (notice that half of the smaller loaf is already gone)

The heat and humidity were stifling so I took a nap. I laid down at 3 o'clock and slept until 5. Nobody can accuse me of not making the most of my weekends off!

When I got up at five, it was glorious outside! Still a bit muggy but the temp had dropped precipitously and it was MUCH more bearable. I took the chickens out the left over orange peels (I grated the peels and hand squeezed the juice called for in the recipe!). They seemed to enjoy them.

Especially Star!




I'm still very tired so I think I'll call it a night early tonight. Happy DREAMS!

DREAM says...

It was WAY too hot for us girls to pose so
This One's For Katie..."



;-)

Good Morning...

It's a beautiful, foggy morning in the Bluff Country. I've got a few minutes before I have to get ready for my doctor appointment so thought I'd quick share some photos that I took this morning as well as my thoughts regarding having a colonoscopy...

Isn't Luca beautiful? I'm quite proud of my 'home-grown' boy.

All three of my chickens/roosters like to come out for a walk-a-bout the yard first thing every morning.

I've finished the prep for my colonoscopy. It wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared!

I found that if you add a packet of Crystal Lite to the gunk you have to drink (and keep the mug you're going to drink it out of in the freezer,between servings) it isn't half bad. No gaggy, hold my nose or I'll throw up feelings at all!

Suffice it to say that the medication did it's job. VERY thoroughly!

;=)

I do think that I was very lucky in that I have an afternoon appointment for the actual procedure. Because of that, I only had to drink half of the prep, last night, and the other half this morning. Now, nothing, NADA, ZILCH until it's done. Which, of course means that I am immediately STARVING!!!

My wonderful Princess (aka Pam ~ my eldest daughter) is picking me up to take me to the hospital for my appointment. Maybe we can go out to eat when it's done...

DREAM says:

..."Have a great day!"

I LOVE this picture!

I Got LOST...

MASQUERADE
This is supposed to be a "sheep" blog. So I'm going to post pictures of sheep.
But what's really on my mind is that I got LOST, driving home from work last night!


I'm not kidding. I was really lost!
As in, "none of this looks familiar, where the heck am I?" lost.

I was so completely disoriented that I was actually scared!
Nothing looked familiar and I couldn't figure out where I went wrong!

Did I miss the turn off the main road?

Or did I miss the turn onto "my" road?

Did I go too far?



Or maybe not far enough?


I finally turned around and went "back" (to where?)


I came to a stop sign and a 'T' in the road, but I didn't know which way to turn!
Nothing looked familiar!
I turned left. A sign said North 76. That's close to "my" road. But nothing looked familiar and I still didn't know if I'd passed my road or not gotten to it yet!
I drove a short distance and finally saw something that I recognized! A nursery with trees wrapped in protective coating so the deer couldn't eat their tender bark. What a welcome sight! I knew that if I was where I thought I was, there should be a church coming up next. There WAS! (thank GOD)

I turned back around and went the 1/2 mile down the road to turn onto County 4. MY road. I focused on one familiar landmark after another as I drove the final 8 miles to my house.

That was scary!

DREAM says...

"We're here for you, Mom!


I'm WAY to young to be this old!!!

My Morning...

I went out to move the girls at 7:30 this morning because my hay man was coming.

The ewes and lambs always great me with such joy and make me feel so loved!

And NO ~ I didn't have cookies in my pockets! ;-)

I moved the girls to the side pasture and just as I was walking back to the new barn, the hay man pulled up the drive. Perfect timing!

Marlin (78 year old "hay man") tossed the bales off of his trailer and I (single handedly ~ well, actually I used both hands) stacked 90 bales of hay in one hour!!!

I moved the girls back into the main pasture and while they cleaned up the hay chafe spilled on the ground, I did halter lessons with a couple of very special young ladies (more about that tomoorow!), before heading into the house to get ready for work. I'm gonna be tired tonight...

DREAM says...

"Oh yeah! Mom's gonna be tired all right. And SORE!!! Come back tomorrow to see some of the funny picture she took while she was giving halter lessons to D ? # @... mmmffft!"

Prima Dona & Chance.......and "My Chain Fell Off!!"

Do you remember this little Doll??? She is "BLUFF COUNTRY PRIMA DONA".

I fell in love with her on the morning that she was born! You can relive that morning here.. Prima Dona has grown into a very beautiful ewe lamb! I'll be showing her at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival this fall.

You may or may not have recognized her in the picture with Daisy in my last post.

Joining Prima Dona in the "Pair of Ewe Lambs" class will be "BLUFF COUNTRY CHANCE"

This little beauty is fast becoming the moorit version of DREAM!!! She is my snuggle bug and loves to be held and hugged and cuddled.

Both Prima Dona and Chance are twins and have full-siblings who are for sale. You can see THORN and CASSY on my Breeding Stock For Sale blog...

What's that about "My Chain Falling Off", you ask??? You may remember, I am participating in the "Tour De Fleece". And I was doing really great! Spinning every day and/or night. One night I even stayed up 'till midnight because I didn't have time to spin before leaving for work in the afternoon and I didn't want to miss a day. So I spun when I got home from work at 11 o'clock at night! Yesterday, I didn't spin. I put two more strands of electric fence on a new pasture that I'm preparing for the ewes, now that I've pulled the lambs from their moms. I've been working my butt off, trying to get this pasture ready for them. Having finally got six strands of electric up, I finally decided that it is safe to put them in there now. I'll add two more strands this weekend, when I'm off work.

It's HOT. Super hot and horribly MUGGY. The worst kind of weather for me. I'd rather have blizzards!! I swear ~ that's the truth. I'm too old for this kind of heat and humidity. So, I got the fence done enough to let the girls out into their new pasture, but didn't have time to do any spinning. The first time I missed a day since the Tour began. By the time I got home from work last night, I was in pain. And feeling nauseaus. It's been an exhausting week. What, with separating all the lambs from the moms and moving groups around so that every one has good pasture and shelter. And trying to get the fencing done all by myself. And my stupid JOB... I tell you: I am too old for this! Especially the latest insult: I got my period! I'm 55 years old and haven't had one in a year and a half! I thought I was done with this crap!!!!!!!! Can you tell that I'm not particularly thrilled with this little turn of events?

Oh yeah, and my camera batteries (rechargeable) died.

Frickin heat....

ALICE says......"TELL me about it!!!"

I THOUGHT that I was Losing It....

Oh Good Grief!
I couldn't find my glasses, yesterday, and had to go to work without them! NOT good, Martha. Fortunately, I had a pair of reading glasses there (for just such occasions) and managed to muddle through ~ with the help of a magnifying glass!

"BLUFF COUNTRY FLOWER"

The night before last, I couldn't find my new camera! I was terrified because I knew that I'd taken it outside with me, in the morning, and had no idea what I did with it during the course of the day. It's been raining every night and I just couldn't bear the idea of losing another camera to the rain! I was panic-stricken for awhile, but finally found it on the swing in the back yard. I have NO clue.....

"BLUFF COUNTRY SPRING" and "BLUFF COUNTRY SUNSHINE"
What am I doing with these pictures? You might ask... I'm posting pictures of some of the lambs you may not have seen for a while so that YOU (seriously!) don't forget their names...

"BLUFF COUNTRY CAT NAP"
I know that I've got lots more to post but I have to run into the feed mill and get some more sheep minerals (before I forget), so this will have to do for today. If I have time before I have to go to work, I'll try to get some new pictures of the lambs that have NOT been seen much on this blog recently....

In the mean time...This is Dreamer trying to get her little (?) family ready for a family portrait. "Come on kiddos. Line up nice ~ stand up straight":

DREAM says...

..."CHEESE" Actually, it was more like "Animal Crackers" but you know the drill!

P.S. I found my glasses! I decided to clean house this morning, since I couldn't SEE to do anything on the computer. When I shook out a shirt that I had taken out of the washer ~ to put in the dryer ~ the glasses went flying. I must have hooked them to the front of my shirt when I didn't need them (they aren't really my prescription glasses ~ I broke those ~ these are just reading glasses so I take them off when I'm not doing up-close work.

;-)

On Growing Older.....

A dear friend sent me this in an e-mail, weeks ago. I kept it because I really like what it says. Not that I think of myself as "old" ~ but old enough to joke about getting old. ;-) I truly like where I am at in my life and find these sentiments describe my feelings quite accurately...

The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old. I was taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction, she was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question, and I would ponder it, and let her know.

Old Age, I decided, is a gift.

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so av ante guard on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.
I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.
Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60&70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.

They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved on e, or when a child suffers, or even when some body's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)

DREAM says....

...."Baaaa!"